1/05/2023

A CERTAIN RATIO NEW STUDIO ALBUM, 1982 OUT ON MUTE ON 31 MARCH 2023

A CERTAIN RATIO
NEW STUDIO ALBUM, 1982
OUT ON MUTE ON 31 MARCH 2023
 
UK TOUR - APRIL 2023



 
 
A Certain Ratio's new studio album, 1982 - out on Mute on 31 March 2023https://mute.ffm.to/acr-1982

Latest single ‘Afro Dizzy', a searing afrobeat-inspired track written around drum samples recorded by the late Nigerian master percussionist Tony Allen, features one of Manchester’s fastest-rising neo-soul musicians Ellen Beth Abdi, Though a newcomer to A Certain Ratio, it says a lot about the band’s progressive instincts that she’s already as central to the process as the members who’ve been there since the 1970s. For ‘Afro Dizzy’ she penned her own lyrics around a whirling instrumental based on a sample pack of drums by Tony Allen. ACR, who have long idolised Allen, had hoped to one day work with him, and wrote the music for the track just days after he died, in 2020.

Watch the video, an animation from artist and musician Tom Furse, and keep your eyes peeled for Tony Allen, who can be seen via archive footage: https://youtu.be/I1v0Bnr1J-Y

Even by the band’s high standards - which includes a gleeful disregard for boundaries of style and genre, their eye fixed firmly on constant movement forwards - their latest studio album 1982 is multidimensional. Recorded by the core ACR line up of Jez Kerr, Martin Moscrop and Donald Johnson, alongside Tony Quigley, Matthew Steele and Ellen Beth Abdi, it shoots off in every direction, whether via searing Afrobeat, mind-melting jazz breakdowns or moody electronic experiments.

And the album title? Although 1982 might conjure memories of the year that saw ACR put out both the acclaimed Sextet and the cult favourite I’d Like To See You Again, it’s more of a playful red herring than an invitation to nostalgia.

Looking backwards and forwards all at once, drawing on influences from across every spectrum, 1982 is an unpredictable record that will reward a dedicated listener dozens of times over.

To celebrate the release of the album, A Certain Ratio will be embarking on a UK tour throughout April – full details below.

A CERTAIN RATIO – 2023 TOUR
20 April – EdinburghVoodoo Rooms
21 April – HuddersfieldThe Parish
22 April – ManchesterNew Century Hall
23 April – LeedsBrudenell
25 April – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
26 April – BirminghamHare & Hounds
27 April – BristolThe Exchange
29 April – LondonThe Garage

Before that, the band will be hosting a number of special Q&A / signing events in partnership with independent record shops in Manchester, Nottingham and London:

31 March – Manchester, Piccadilly Records – Q&A / signing
1 April – London, Rough Trade East - Q&A / signing
2 April – Nottingham, Rough Trade - Q&A / signing

RECENT PRAISE FOR A CERTAIN RATIO 
“ACR unquestionably rule” – MOJO (on ACR Loco)
“Probably their best LP in decades” – UNCUT (on ACR Loco)
“"ACR Loco is a stomping reminder to celebrate the eccentric pleasures of life in multicultural cities and the liberating night life they offer." – musicOMH
“A gloriously heady mix evoking the ecstatic spirit of a chemical haze” - METRO
“ACR Loco is riotous, life affirming and bristling with energy” - ELECTRONIC SOUND

“…pioneering groove alchemists” – THE QUIETUS
“Cult punk funkateers” – UNCUT
“… mould-breakers” – MOJO
“… pioneering…” – ELECTRONIC SOUND

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